What the heck is vaping?

I remember how shocked I was the first time I saw someone in a public place talking on a cell phone. It must have been 1990. I didn’t have the thought that some day most everyone would be toting around a phone device of some type.

So, now I’m wondering if this same phenomenon is happening with those e-cigarettes. You know, those funny, colorful devices that people are puffing on and sending out strange looking vapors. They’re vaping. Yes, in time my computer won’t underline that in red, because it will be as common a word as smoking.

Within the last two weeks I have seen people of all ages (18 and over) vaping all over the place. I’ve stopped being shocked by it. In fact, if they must have their nicotine, I’ve reasoned that this is much better than subjecting us to their second hand smoke and littering the highways with their cigarette butts.

Sidebar:  My most hated place for second hand smoke is standing in line to buy my ticket at the movie theater. There is always someone upwind from me having that last one before their 2-hour hiatus inside the multiplex.

Now, before you cast me as one of those judgmental, holier-than-thou non-smokers, I must refer you to a column I wrote in 2010. In it I said: “I’m grateful to be one of the few baby boomers who have never smoked, yet I feel enormous compassion for those who do whether they’re trying to quit or not. Smokers know that they’re killing themselves cell by cell. That they’re contributing to an industry that brings debilitation, death and economic hardship to the poorest people on the planet. That their second hand smoke and discarded butts pollute everything around them. They know this and more, and yet many feel powerless to give them up.” I know that nicotine is among the most addictive drugs on earth. Most older smokers were lured into it before the true consequences of the habit were known.

But back to vaping. If you haven’t already, soon you will see signs reading “No Vaping,” or “Vaping allowed only on the patio.” I’m trying to prepare you for the inevitable.

So, how does it work, and what are the advantages? According to USA Today, “these battery-operated devices don’t contain the myriad harmful chemicals of regular cigarettes, but by heating a nicotine solution into a vapor that users inhale, they still provide the addictiveness of nicotine.”

I decided I had to go to the source and get the story, so I visited Naples Vapor on Cape Coral Parkway which has been there for two months. A nice man named Frank was vaping away, and explained that it costs about $60 to get started. This will buy you a batter, battery charger, liquid tank and 10 milliliters of liquid flavored nicotine. Frank’s store offers about 70 different flavors, the most popular being snickerdoodle and cheesecake torte. Fried peanut butter and banana is gaining on them.

Customer, Courtney, age 29 had been smoking regular cigarettes for 3 years, and decided to try switching to vaping 4 months ago. She enjoys not having her hands, clothes and environment smelling of cigarette smoke. She pays $6.99 for a bottle of the nicotine juice which lasts for 5-7 days. She finds this more economical than the $6.00 she would spend for a pack of Marlboro Lites.

Courtney reports that real cigarettes don’t taste any good to her anymore, and that she has cut down her use markedly because she doesn’t vape in public. She hopes to quit eventually.

The vapor stores all have methods to help smokers taper off their nicotine habit. The nicotine comes in about 6 different levels of concentration, and users can gradually decrease their intake. Frank says that most of his customers tell him that it is their intention to quit.

My friend Norman who owns Volcano Fine Electronic Cigarettes in the Gulf Coast Town Center in Estero underscores this. He says about 80% of his customers want to quit, and he has seen some successes.

Then he threw me a real curve by saying that about 10% of his customers are there to break their hookah habit. Hookah habit? What the…..

You’ll just have to Google that boomers, because thats a whole nother column.